One of the things I most wanted to go to while in Madrid was the Museo de la Selección Española de Fútbol, or Spanish Football Museum if you prefer the English. This is a museum for the Spanish national football team who I’ve supported since I was a kid, so it was a big deal for me to go to see. It’s also the training camp for Spain and basically the headquarters for all things to do with the Spanish National Team. The biggest problem was that it’s not in central Madrid, it’s not even close. It’s in Las Rozas, which is not easy to get to without a car. The Metro does not go there, it’s pretty out the way, and according to Google and Apple Maps, it takes an hour to walk from the closest train station to it (It’s basically surrounded by motorways). The only option was a taxi, which was expensive at €35 (one way!) but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

I asked at my hotel reception if they knew where it was, they had not heard of it. I showed them on Google maps, they still had no idea. I asked them if a taxi driver would know, they said “definitely!”. I got in a taxi and he did not know, the sat nav could not find it, only the street it was on. I eventually got there, and asked the taxi driver (in Spanish as he spoke no English) “Is this the first time you’ve been here” and he replied, yes! haha!!

I got there and was at the training pitch, had a look around, and asked where the museum was, and finally got there and got in. It only costs €6 which is worth it, even when you add in the taxi fares I had to pay. Since basically nobody knows about this place, I had the entire museum to myself. Only in the last 5 minutes a Spanish guy and girl were there, apart from that I had the total run of the place which was so cool!

The Museum has everything…From the history of the Spanish team to the modern day, the futsal which Spain have always been good at, and the Olympic team too. There’s so much for any la Roja fan, and of course the more modern things, such as the winning of Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012, and of course, the trophies and medals are on display.

I also seen on social media that the players were there training the day after I was there 🙁 I can’t believe I missed that, but still such an amazing experience which most people don’t get 🙂

I have so many photos I can’t upload them all, but check out some of the best ones below…

I am back from Madrid! I have wanted to go to Madrid for a long time, but have always been put off because you can’t fly direct from Newcastle. I decided to finally bite the bullet and go, and flew from Edinburgh, and of course had to make sure that I could make the flight and all my travel matched up.

I left at around 6AM for my long journey, got the train up to Edinburgh and then my flight to Madrid, everything went smoothly which is always good. I got into Madrid Airport at around 4PM, and made my way to my hotel which I got to at about 5PM. I don’t want to write too much about my hotel because I’m going to write a post about it, but it was amazing! One of the best hotels I have stayed in, right on Gran Via, in a large room with King size bed, and views of Plaza De España! If you follow me on Twitter/Instagram you’ll have already seen it 😉

By the time I got unpacked and settled in I went out sightseeing around the centre of Madrid. It was after 6PM but since it’s the summer Madrid doesn’t actually get dark till nearly 10PM, so plenty of time to see a lot of things.

If you don’t know or have never been to Madrid, Gran Via is basically the main shopping street in the centre of Madrid, think of Oxford Street in London. There’s lots of high street shops, but also a huge number of restaurants, eateries, bars, theatre and everything you need. To the South of that is Puerto Del Sol, which is a big square, which is connected to Gran Via by lots of streets with yet more shopping experiences.

I went into Primark, check out the photo below and you’ll see why! This is the 2nd biggest in the World, but it definitely looks the most impressive by far!

So to get acclimatised with my surroundings, I went all the way up Gran Via when it turns into Calle de Alcalá and to Cibeles, which is the big palace and has a fountain on the roundabout. From there I walked down to the Prado Museum which had a massive queue, but it’s not my cup of tea anyway so I wasn’t planning on going in. On the way back I went around Plaza Puerto Del Sol and checked out the square and surroundings, then headed back to near my hotel to Plaza De España and chilled there for a little bit.

I’ve now had myself a fair few weekends away, from staycations in London to long weekends in Barcelona, Reykjavik and super fast weekend getaways to places like Copenhagen. Packing for these short journeys can sometimes be a bit of a head scratching issue…What do you take, and in terms of clothing, what do you pack? It comes down to a couple of things, where and when you’re going, your general lifestyle and your budget.

Having some Hard Rock merchandise has been a bit of a tradition of mine, it all started several years back when I got one of the tees as a present from the Edinburgh one, and since then I have been to a couple of Hard Rock Cafes in different cities, and I have always bought a T-shirt. When I was in Copenhagen I had to go and check out their Hard Rock, and it’s a really cool place. I got myself a tee as normal, but since it’s Winter and a cold country, I had to grab myself a hoodie too.

As you know I visited the beautiful city of Copenhagenjust before Christmas for a short break, and loved the city. I stayed in The Square hotel, which is a 4 star hotel located very central, in Rådhuspladsen. I was looking around for a couple of week’s to find a hotel, and I found this one pretty fast. I did search for other hotels, but after contemplating a few things which I will go into below, I settled for The Square, and I am fairly happy I did 🙂

Copenhagen was amazing, it really is such a great city with so much to offer, even more than I imagined before I went. If you’re looking to see what I got up to you can check out my Copenhagen page here, as well as checking out my posts on Copenhagen Day 1, Copenhagen Night, Nyhavn Day & Night, and Tivoli. Here’s what I found out about Denmark’s capital, my tips and advice and what I’ve learned from when I got there.

I went to Tivoli when I was in Copenhagen….Actually I went twice! On my first night I went, and after an hour or so it started to rain, my camera battery actually died because I was taking photos all day, I do have a spare but did not take it out with me since I’ve never ran a battery out in only one day! 😛 Anyway I went back the next night because it’s such a great place.

At Christmas it truly is a Winter Wonderland, and it’s definitely a good way to spend an evening or two (or more!). There’s so much to do; If you just want to walk around and take it all in you can, there’s plenty to see and lots of places to eat and drink.

I spent a bit of time in Nyhavn, it’s a really nice part of Copenhagen. If you’ve ever seen Copenhagen in pictures, on TV or online, then you’ll have probably seen the buildings with the colourful fronts which look so cool! It’s a harbour with plenty of restaurants and bars, and is a must see place. At one end of the canal there’s a bridge where people have put love locks on, not as many as other bridges but it looks nice 😛

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Welcome to Michael 84, my blog about men’s fashion and lifestyle. I write about topics which we all love, including style, male grooming, travel, fragrance and tech, as well as the latest trends in menswear. Sharing my passion with clothing, from high street to high end brands.